1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to collecting events for a distributed database. More specifically, the present invention is related to a computer implemented method, computer program product, and data processing system for providing representation of data objects at various hierarchical levels as they change due to events from an Enterprise Information System (EIS).
2. Description of the Related Art
Database developers and developers of data structures, in general, organize and manage information in a hierarchical manner. Developers assemble smaller and simpler pieces of information to represent larger and more complex pieces of information. For example, a complex piece of information representing a bicycle may comprise smaller and less complex pieces of information about a wheel, a seat, a handle, and a pedal. A developer may represent a wheel by assembling or interrelating even smaller and simpler information about a rim, spoke, tire, axle, and so on. Developers call such compositions of information business objects, wherein the objects are generally organized in such a way that they represent business data. Developers create data structures to relate each object in parent-child relationships; for example, a bicycle object would be a parent of the wheel, seat, handle, and pedal objects. The wheel, seat, handle, and pedal objects are each a child of the parent object, in this case, the bicycle object. A wheel object could in turn be the parent object for rim, spoke, tire, and axle child objects. Once a developer creates such data object relationships, software applications can read, write, and otherwise manipulate these objects depending on their needs. For example, a software application for managing inventory of wheel components for wheel manufacturing might reference the wheel object as a top-level object of interest. On the other hand, a software application for managing inventory of bicycle components for bicycle manufacturing might reference the bicycle object as a top-level object of interest. Depending on a developer's focus, the database and data structures within an Enterprise Information System may have to provide varying quantities and organization of information.
Further, the information stored in this manner changes constantly due to a variety of impetus, called events. Events occur proactively, interactively, inherently, or automatically, because of the activities transacting between applications, users, and data structures. Due to such events, changes occur to the data object hierarchies, which are important and meaningful to track. A bicycle manufacturer may use a distributed database to manage inventory. An event may be, for example, a bicycle receiving the final part on an assembly line. Thus, the parts used in building the bicycle will have directly altered the current inventory of the bicycle components. Information about old and new levels of inventory might be important for ensuring adequate supplies of parts.
Present passive database systems, while providing ways for tracking the changes to the information, do not provide ways to track such changes in relation to the events that caused them. In addition, such systems do not provide the change information organized in meaningful relationships that exist between the changed data objects. In the bicycle manufacturing example, it may be important to know not only the changed inventory levels of wheels after an hour of manufacturing, but also those of pedals and spokes in the event the bicycle manufacturing was interrupted for some reason in that particular hour of manufacturing bicycles.
In addition, it is presently unknown for enterprise information systems controlled by a vendor to integrate with an enterprise information system of a consumer such that changes in the former are propagated as changes or deltas represented in client objects.